Aston Villa will be without striker John Carew for several more weeks as they must wait to see if he needs surgery to cure his back injury.
Carew, 29, has missed the last two games with the problem and Villa boss Martin O'Neill is not sure when the Norway international will return.
"It's one of those where we'll have to wait and see," O'Neill told BBC WM.
"He's doing some specialist training and we hope he won't need surgery but we won't know that for a few weeks."
Carew has scored seven goals for Villa this season and is a powerful presence up front.
O'Neill has admitted he is trying to find a way of making his side as effective as possible without their main striker.
"It would be poor fare if you went through a season and one player affected your plans," he added.
"As we start to make progress with the squad we are going to have to find different ways of playing and winning a football game."
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